If you go

It’s been five years since Rome Ramirez made the gutsy move to join Sublime, stepping into the formidable frontman spot once occupied by his late idol Bradley Nowell.

But after plenty of touring an album, 2012’s “Yours Truly,” Ramirez says Sublime with Rome feels like its own entity.

“I think one of the main differences is I’m not new to the band standing next to my idols anymore,” says Ramirez, 26, who also works as a solo artist and has written and produced for Enrique Iglesias, Jason Derulo and Dirty Heads. “We’ve all laughed and cried and been in pain and gone to the hospital with each other now. We’re a lot closer than we’ve ever been — Eric (Wilson) and I, especially.

“I feel like now it’s just a lot more of an honest approach where both of us feel a lot more comfortable putting aside our weakness and differences and really just trying to create something all new together. It feels fresh and new, which is great.”

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Ramirez says Sublime plans to hit the studio in November to work on its next album, while his new solo set, “Get Free,” is scheduled for release in August. Meanwhile, the group made news in June when it was busted for smoking marijuana during a radio festival in Tucson — at the request of headliner Linkin Park. The incident was widely reported on social media — to the detriment of Linkin Park, which disavowed responsibility despite police reports to the contrary — though Ramirez things it’s much ado about nothing.

“I just thought it was funny, man,” he says now. “Y’know, the first thing they teach you in the music business is when it comes to social media and things like that, don’t respond, dude. But they did, and then they lied, and when you do that you’re labeled a liar.

“I think it got really blown out of proportion, to be honest. I don’t think they deserved the wrath they got. They’re nice guys; they just could’ve handled the situation a little better.”